“They need a little bit of variety over there,” he said.
Diljeet Taylor, a practicing Sikh who has two teenage sons with her husband, says that being at B.Y.U. has only strengthened her relationship with God, and that her upbringing has helped her relate to her runners, who are predominantly members of the Latter-day Saints church.
Brian Santiago, B.Y.U.’s athletic director, said that her guidance may mean more to her athletes than it would coming from someone else. “Because it’s not just, ‘Oh, she’s always been a part of this, and now she’s leading us,’” he said. “They look at her in a unique way, so it almost gives her more credibility.”
In 2019, Taylor was interviewing for an opening at Stanford when Meghan Hunter, one of her freshman recruits, broke her neck in a car crash. On a visit to the hospital, Taylor scolded the doctor when he said that Hunter might not run competitively again.
“You’re not God!” Taylor told him. “How can you say that?”
She stayed on at B.Y.U. — “I can’t leave these women,” she said — and coached Hunter through her comeback, which included a Big 12 Conference championship in the 800 meters.
Butterflies
Back in her office, Taylor had workouts to schedule, flights to book and team parties to plan. (She loves parties.) She outsourced a few text messages to an assistant, who asked for guidance.
“Respond however I would respond,” Taylor said. “With a little bit of an edge.”
There are times when Taylor sounds like a Dale Carnegie course in human form. She peppers her speech with off-the-cuff aphorisms: “I’m married to the dreams of my athletes, and I make them my own.” And: “I used to want to fit the stereotype, and now I want to create the stereotype.” The other day, the office layout provided inspiration for a new one: “The trophies behind me the tell story of where I’ve been. The people in front of me are the reason I keep going.”
